To call the game a must-win for USC would have been an understatement. After a streak of three Big Ten losses, where defeat was consistently snatched from the jaws of victory, the team faced a litany of questions, doubt and skepticism from both its fanbase and the national media. Any hopes of breaking into the expanded College Football Playoff were gone; even bowl eligibility seemed uncertain.

The urgency of this matchup was only surpassed by its novelty; it was the first-ever meeting between the two newly minted conference foes. The tilt between programs from California and New Jersey — which is only the third-most distant pairing in the expanded Big Ten — concluded at 2:42 a.m. EST.

Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.

But Friday night, USC was able to right the ship, capping off a colossal night for sports in Los Angeles. The Dodgers handled the Yankees in the first game of the World Series at Dodger Stadium, the Lakers pulled off an impressive comeback to top the Suns at Crypto.com Arena and the Trojans put together a full four-quarter performance to take down Rutgers at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The 42-20 victory was powered by an all-star showing from USC’s (4-4, 2-4 Big Ten) offense, who marched down the field at will throughout the game. A spirited offensive line performance allowed redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss to turn in one of his best games of the season, with 20 completions on 28 pass attempts, 308 yards and 2 touchdowns. He ran in another score and added a 39-yard punt for good measure.

“They were inside the 20. It was a good bounce,” Moss quipped.

USC never trailed Friday night. After the Scarlet Knights kicked a field goal to make the score 7-3 in the middle of the first quarter, sophomore wide receiver Makai Lemon made a statement play, returning the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to set the Trojans up in the red zone. The return topped off a great night for Lemon, who caught four passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. 

More impressively, he totaled 101 yards after catch, demonstrating a play-extending ability that kept the offense on the move all night.

Rutgers (4-4, 1-4) looked to recover from its own three-game skid, but its offense had an inconsistent outing. Even though the Scarlet Knights dominated time of possession, they only mustered 12 points in the first half, kicking two field goals and missing an extra point attempt after a touchdown. 

It wasn’t enough to keep up, as USC scored touchdowns on all four of their drives in the half and took a 28-12 lead into the intermission. Redshirt senior running back Woody Marks drove in three of those scores, marking a career-high for the Mississippi State transfer.

“Just be free and play the game how it’s supposed to be played,” Marks said in a post-game press conference.

After both squads exchanged punts to kick off the third quarter, the Scarlet Knights began to claw their way back into the game in an eerily similar fashion to the Trojans’ last two opponents. Against both Penn State and Maryland, USC held double-digit leads at halftime before losing spectacularly. The ingredients seemed to be falling into place for another shocking result. 

Senior quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis threw for 70 yards in two plays for a Rutgers touchdown and caught a subsequent two-point conversion to narrow the scoreline to 28-20, silencing the student section.

On the ensuing drive, Moss completed a 10-yard pass near the first down marker to Lemon, who made a man miss and ran 60 yards downfield to the Rutgers 5-yard line. Sounds of joy and relief erupted from the crowd and the Trojans never looked back, scoring another 2 touchdowns to put the game out of reach.

While USC’s efficient offense defined the game, the defense’s stability in key moments proved to be vital. The team recorded 4 sacks, a season-high, and continuously forced Rutgers into 3rd down situations. 

A “bend, don’t break” mentality seemed to be the key Friday; a few big plays snuck past the secondary and some conversions were given up, but the defense held firm when it mattered. This was especially true in the second half: Rutgers scored a touchdown, but punted three times and failed to convert two fourth-down attempts on its two final drives.

The win also took some pressure off of Head Coach Lincoln Riley’s shoulders, who had been facing heightened criticism for USC’s poor performances in Big Ten play. Since the Trojans’ unbeaten start to last year’s campaign, they have posted a record of 6-9 (0.400 win percentage). But Riley didn’t seem fazed; his message rang the same.

“We’re a no excuses program, we’ve got a no excuses mentality right now,” Riley said. “Whatever’s stacked up against us, we really don’t give a damn. We’re just gonna keep going.”

With four games left on the regular season schedule, the Trojans will need to win two of them to secure a bowl berth. The team will look to move one step closer to that goal this week, as it travels up the coast to take on former Pacific-12 Conference foe Washington (4-4, 2-3) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.